Press

Celebrities Speak Out in Support of CBE

“Transcendental Meditation promotes stillness — and when you are still it is the only time you can think, the only time you can focus. When you have distractions and noise in your mind, you can't comprehend properly and you can't do your job. Comprehension comes from stillness, focus comes from stillness, and TM is the practice of touching that stillness for a few minutes twice a day.”

"When you don't fund education, you leave children behind. When you promote art and creativity in a child, it sparks their imagination. Kids need inspiration to go to work. My Transcendental Meditation practice has been very valuable to me in learning how to achieve focus. That same programme, if put into these underperforming schools, would help young people focus and improve grades. Repeating mantras teaches kids to focus. The schools that have implemented this programme create quiet time in school where the kids practice their meditation. Children that are diagnosed with ADD may be helped through this kind of programme. Instead of giving them pills, we could teach them meditation. And not just for those kids, but all kids. If you go to the schools around the country currently utilizing this programme, you would see a dramatic difference in the children and the results they achieve. "

Mr. Simmons is the co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam. According to USA Today, he is the "Top 25 Most Influential People of the Past 25 Years" for his groundbreaking vision that has influenced music, fashion, finance, television and film, as well as the face of modern philanthropy.

S. Govender

“In my years as a public-school Principal and 40 years as an educator I have not come across a program that brings such happiness and feeling of well-being into a school. This leads to natural self-organizing discipline in staff and students. This program holistically improves every aspect of school life: academic achievement; school orderliness and behaviour; reduced stress levels and improved teacher relationships.”

S. Govender, School Principal, and Chairperson, Council of Consciousness-Based-Education, KZN, South Africa

“For a student to know his / her real Self is something we are sorely lacking in our schools today. It's the one thing missing. There is so much peer pressure to do the wrong things. We need to teach our young people to stand on their own feet, to think for themselves, to make wise decisions even when their teachers are not there. Knowing yourself is only one thing, but it's probably the most important thing education can provide. Add this one thing, and the change in the lives of the students, and the dedicated teachers teaching them, will amaze you. It's like night turning into day.”

From empowering children and youth to protect themselves from child pornography, to online matching of global volunteers with African visionaries, Nadine Naidoo (www.nadinenaidoo.co.za / www.ashoka.org) is dedicated to using media, technology and music for spiritual and social activism helping people discover their divine nature as serve others I am Because You Are (Ubuntu).

On screen, as Director of ki Media, Nadine has been reaching audiences, as Anchor & Content Director of SABC's live multifaith talk-show Spirit Sundae featuring VIA's volunteer series Spirit in Action, and through educational drama's like Isidingo, 90 Plein Street, The Eastern Bride (SA/Scotland) & Where Violence Ends - Love Begins (SA/Sweden). Off screen, she is reaching global audiences through her music, documentaries and Visionaries In Africa (VIA), Africa's pioneering volunteer network www.volunteer.co.za.

“The purpose of education should be to develop whole people, beyond just teaching them things out of books. I love this education approach. I believe we could truly transform so many of the problems and the stress in so many of our schools. Just try it, it will serve your school.”

Author of My Sacred Spaces, writer and producer, founder and managing director of Thamzin Media. Thami has a weekly spirituality show on Metro FM and was previously appointed the editor of O, The Oprah magazine, SA. She also won the Miss African Times pageant in 1997 to represent Africa on the American scene and be a goodwill ambassador from the readers of The African Times to Africa.

“In today's world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence — bliss — the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation. These words from the great educator and scientist of consciousness, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, simply and beautifully describe the urgent need in education today.”

Founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. David is an award-winning director, writer,
and producer. His work includes Eraserhead, Elephant Man, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Straight Story, Mulholland Drive, and INLAND
EMPIRE.

Heather Graham

“It's easy to spend a lot of time worrying and obsessing, but meditation puts me in a blissful place. At the end of the day, all that star stuff doesn't mean anything. Transcendental Meditation reminds you that it's how you feel inside that's important. If you have that, you have everything.”

Actress Heather Graham started Transcendental Meditation at the suggestion of director David Lynch 12 years ago on the set of his Twin Peaks TV series.

Taddy Blecher

“The CBE programme works. You can change your school in 90 days. It works for any school. It has worked all around the world where it's been implemented with hundreds of thousands of students. Education is really only about people. It's about the hearts and minds of the teachers and students. We often think it's about shortages of libraries, or computers, or infrastructure. Those are just tools. We've seen over and over again in our country's history, that a school can have no buildings, students can learn under the trees, and they can still get 100% matric pass-rate. This programme deeply supports and helps the people in the school, the teachers and the students. It will change lives. It will dramatically improve academic performance even for top performing schools. It increased pass-rates by 25% for 9 000 school students in Alexandra over a 3-year period. Most of all the environment in the school will become a place that every teacher will look forward to work every day. It will be a place that gives you energy and doesn't drain it away.”

Dr. Blecher is the Director of Consciousness-Based Education for South Africa. As a Social Entrepreneur and Co-founder of SA's 1st free tertiary institute educating the financially disadvantaged, Dr. Blecher was recognised as one of 100 young leaders round the world, making an exceptional contribution toward "making a better world". Focusing on Social change and alleviation of human suffering, Dr. Blecher is providing virtually free education to the poor in South Africa.

Pepsi Pokane

“My life has shown me the value of consciousness-based living. Seeing the positive changes in me and in others that have adopted this approach to living allows me to absolutely endorse any sensible programme which encourages youth in schools to adopt a Consciousness-Based Education model. The world we're living in, isn't working and consciousness based education is one of the key changes that needs to happen in our educational system, so we can produce adults that will make a positive impact on the world.”

Pepsi Pokane is a South African actor, television presenter, director and businessman best known for hosting the SABC2 late-night music show Afro Cafe, since 2005. He was voted as Cosmopolitan's Sexiest South African Man for 2006.